Roadster Ready to Hit The Gas in Native Diver
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Photo: Zoe Metz
Roadster breezes at Santa Anita Park before his fall return when he finished second in the Damascus Stakes
After prepping for a late-season campaign with a close runner-up finish in the Nov. 2 Damascus Stakes at Santa Anita, Roadster finds the equivalent of open highway Nov. 23 in the $100,000 Native Diver Stakes (G3) at Del Mar.
The lone graded stakes winner in the six-horse lineup—he won the Santa Anita Derby (G1) in the spring—the 3-year-old Quality Road colt holds a sizable class edge. He goes in the Native Diver because trainer Bob Baffert preferred keeping him in California to shipping him to Kentucky for the $600,000 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (G1) Nov. 29 at Churchill Downs.
"I finally have him where he is starting to fill out," Baffert said Nov. 20. "He's starting to mature. I can see a lot of that in him. I just don't want to throw him into the deep end of the pool."
Although it's a two-turn race at 1 1/8 miles—the Santa Anita Derby distance—the Native Diver is meant to ready him for the seven-furlong Malibu Stakes (G1) Dec. 26 at Santa Anita Park.
Video: Santa Anita Derby (G1)
Drayden Van Dyke will ride Roadster, dubbed the "TMZ horse" after Baffert mentioned him when asked by a TMZ reporter in the summer of 2018 which of his 2-year-olds he believed could win the 2019 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).
Prophetically, the colt made his way to the Derby, though he finished 15th. Next, Roadster was second in the Affirmed Stakes (G3) in June. Then his trainer gave him time off until the Damascus.
Owned by Speedway Stable, Roadster is the 122-pound highweight in the Native Diver, spotting his rivals up to four pounds. Stablemate Leading Score will carry 121.
"He's all about the pace," Baffert said of Leading Score, a 5-year-old Midnight Lute horse who was third in the Oct. 27 Comma to the Top Stakes after speeding to the lead.
Leading Score is a half brother to Indian Blessing, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2007.
Midcourt, a temperamental Midnight Lute gelding, beat Leading Score in the Comma to the Top, rallying from seven lengths back to notch his third consecutive victory. Still a maiden coming into June of his 4-year-old year, he has taken his game to new heights in recent months with trainer John Shirreffs and jockey Victor Espinoza.
Video: Comma to the Top S. (BT)
"He makes up his mind. So it's a little bit of a process," Shirreffs said. "You try to encourage him to make the right decision, but you don't always know he's going to make the right decision."
A horse who is slow into stride but dislikes kickback, Midcourt is suited to the short field and the presence of legitimate speed for a 1 1/8-mile race.
The lineup is completed by Extra Hope, third in the Damascus, and Two Thirty Five, the Comma to the Top runner-up.
Del Mar, Saturday, November 23, 2019, Race 8Entries: Native Diver S. (G3)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Leading Score (KY)
Joseph Talamo
121
Bob Baffert
7/2
2
2Midcourt (KY)
Victor Espinoza
121
John A. Shirreffs
7/2
98
3Zestful (KY)
SCRATCHED
0
UNKNOWN
-
3
4Roadster (KY)
Drayden Van Dyke
122
Bob Baffert
5/2
4
5Extra Hope (KY)
Flavien Prat
118
Richard E. Mandella
6/1
5
6Two Thirty Five (KY)
Abel Cedillo
121
Richard Baltas
3/1
